Snow Days: It's a Problem of Motivation, Bob...

Snow and your employees.  You either have the answer, or you don't.  If you don't have the answer, I'm here to give it to you.  Quick, fast and in a hurry...

You know the issue I'm talking about.  When there's a little snow (or if you live in the South, a hint of snow), employees start freaking out by asking the following questions:

-are the offices going to be open tomorrow?
-are the offices going to be open tomorrow?
-are the offices going to be open tomorrow?
-are the offices going to be open tomorrow?

Damn, that's one question, isn't it?  It's just asked a thousand times during the same day.  If you didn't know better, you might think employees were looking for a freebie.  With that in mind, watch the following video (email subscribers click through for the video), then I'll be back to give you the inclement weather policy you need to box the equation in:

So here's the deal skippy.  Employees want you to make the call to close the office.  "I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob"...

If you're out there and you feel hostage to the whole "what are we going to tell employees about the snow" thing, try this policy on for size:

"<Insert your company name> has offices that are located in various geographic regions across the United States.  As a result, inclement weather may, on rare occasion, cause an office to be closed for a period of time to ensure the safety of our employees while traveling to and from work.

When inclement weather is such that the management staff, with the approval of the Executive Management Team, decides to close the office, the following compensation will be provided to you:

• If the office is closed for the entire day, hourly employees will receive their regular hourly wage for the hours the employee was scheduled to work that day.  Salaried employees receive their regular compensation.

• If the office is closed early or operates on a reduced schedule, hourly employees will receive their regular hourly wage for the hours the employee was scheduled to work on that day.  Thus, if an hourly employee is scheduled to work eight hours that day but is only able to work four hours due to the office closing early or opening late, the employee would still receive eight hours of regular pay for that day.  Salaried employees receive their regular compensation.

• Even if the office is closed to the general public for the entire day or operates on a reduced schedule, there may still be an operational need for some employees to report to work.  Hourly employees who are requested to work will be paid time and a half for the hours worked when the office was closed due to inclement weather, in addition to their hourly wage.  Any hours worked while the office was open will be paid at the regular hourly wage.  This only applies when the management staff, with the approval of the Executive Management Team, makes a decision to close the office to the general public or operate on a reduced schedule due to inclement weather. This is a rare occasion.

• If the office is NOT closed but some employees are unable to report to work due to inclement weather, those employees may have the option of taking any accrued paid time available to them.  If no accrued time is available, the employee may take the day (or hours) as unpaid.

I took the liberty of highlighting the golden statement that takes the burden off of you.  It's not that you're mean, it's that the office is open.  If you don't feel safe traveling to the office, you don't have to - you can just burn some accrued time to cover the day off.

If you've struggled with how to address the whole bad weather thing, try this policy on for size.  Just use road closings as your guide for when to close the office, and it's done. No more hand-wringing...

It'll clear up a lot of things for you...and them. 

 

Comments

[Fran Melmed]

turning the tables -- a friend works at an org that's closed today. they decided yesterday that they'd close, definitely on wed and possibly thursday. because offices were also closed on monday, the director was concerned about continuing lost productivity and determined that people needed to work from home. fine. most people probably would anyway, considering what each of us typically has to accomplish during a given week. the kicker was that the director didn't want to be the "bad guy" and delegated the sending of the announcement to direct reports. if you have shots to call, *you* have to call them.

f

[Phil N]

Why is PTO so complicated? Obviously Hourly is a whole different story but for Salaried employees why not just simplify the whole PTO equation by stating that you "Get Time Off". This is the only policy that you need and it covers everything, vacation, snow days, sick days, maternity, whatever. As long as the job gets done that's all we care about. So if you need time off work it out with the line manager. Obviously this puts more responsibility on the line mgr but hey that's why we pay them the big bucks and they need to be more involved in bottom line performance anyways.

You get time off... end of story

By the way I'm looking for a job now... anyone want me to come in and implement this awesome PTO policy?

[Jennie]

This is the same policy that our company uses. Very helpful for everyone to know in advance how it shakes out on the timesheets.

[Joe Allen]

I would like to know what folks think about the 'work at home' concept during snow storms. This week, my office officially closed for a few days, but there is no official policy about should you, or should you not work at home. I am salaried, have a laptop, mobile phone and network connections so there is no barrier to working and I don't mind doing some things, however should people still hold regular meetings and expect deliverables as if nothing were happening? Some of us are trying to shovel, entertain kids, deal with intermittent power, and do other things that come with a snow storm. The company policy is not clear (or even existent) in this realm. Would welcome some thoughts on that.

[Sheri G]

A note from HR-

This is a great, and concise article, and has given me some food for thought, especially for the hourly employees who do put in time.

Along the lines of Joe's comment, I agree that you missed this one important area: how to handle the salaried employees who put in a full day of work at home.

The amount of snowfall does not change the expectations of our customers, and work and meetings need to, and can, continue. It is the salaried employee's responsibility to get the job done, but as you can see from Joe's comment, they do feel the inequities and extra demand from that responsibility.

Would love the author's thoughts on this.

[Tonya]

I don't believe that this should be considered a hard and fast rule. I am lucky to be a manager for a company that offers more flexibility. We are in a very rural Wisconsin area (with 500+ employees), and while snow is a way of life here, there are times that the plows don't make it through until early afternoon.

Therefore, I am able to offer my staff several options - work from home, make up hours, take PTO, or take an unpaid day. If schools are canceled, they have the flexibility to use another option.

I'll never forget when I lived in Cincinnati and they experienced a snowstorm - the accidents on the interstates were horrific and I can only imagine how folks further south try to drive on snowy roads when they're not used to it!

I'd rather not 'force' someone to come in if they feel unsafe driving in inclement weather - the choice between risking your life and risking your job is a pretty easy one to make in my book. What happens when someone with no PTO left and who is not used to driving in snow does try to make it in because you are 'forcing' them to do so and they are critically injured or worse? Think about it.

Because I TRUST my staff to manage their time - including PTO and working from home, they are enviably loyal to me and the company while being super-efficient and motivated.

By the way, we have NEVER shut down due to weather in my 5+ years here, including two 100-year floods!

Thanks for listening.

[Mike]

If a company/office is open for business, the expectation is that people who work there are to come to work. If they don't because of the weather, they should use PTO (if they have it), or simply not get paid for the day. The company is not 'forcing' them to come into work by being open for business. However, if a company threatens that someone will be fired if they don't come in, that would constitute 'forcing' them and open up liability concerns. Otherwise, if someone chooses to go into work, any travel related concerns are solely a mater of personal accountability.

[Danny Troublefield]

There is some difference between having a "guideline" and a policy. Guidelines provide some structure but allow for greater flexibility depending upon individual cases that are all related, like in the case of the storms surrounding the work location. Policies provide less flexibility and are considered "the man's" way of sticking it to the staff regardless of the circumstances. Once trust is built inside a work group don't lean on policy in the case described above, instead continue to lead (re: not manage, can't manage people) and protect that trust level, work with each individual as needed and allow for as much flexibility as is possible (we can always be more flexible, but we can't always regain lost trust).